Civil Society Coalition: Reject the National Police Bill which makes the National Police a "Superbody" Institution and Fails to Design Fundamental Improvements,

The DPR-RI Plenary Meeting officially adopted the Draft Law on the Third Amendment to Law number 2 of 2002 concerning the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia (POLRI Bill) as an initiative proposal from the DPR. 

On Tuesday (28/5), based on the draft we received, the POLRI Bill in principle contains a number of problematic articles with the substance of expanding the police's recklessness (excessive) authority to the point of making it a "Superbody" institutio

Apart from that, the POLRI Bill also fails to highlight the fundamental problems that have occurred in the Police institution to date, not least the failure to highlight aspects of weak public oversight and control mechanisms over the enormous authority of the Police (oversight mechanism).

Various records from civil society and a number of state institutions have depicted how the National Police institution has become a "monopoly actor" in violent violations of human rights, maladministration, abuse of power, and even corruption practices. 

KontraS, for example, in the period 2020-2024 has collected practices of violence involving the Police in Indonesia. During June 2020-June 2021, there were at least 651 cases, July 2021-June 2022 saw an increase of 677 cases, July 2022-June 2023 reached 622 cases.

Meanwhile, throughout January-April 2024, based on KontraS monitoring, there have been 198 incidents of violence involving the police. The categories of violations include: shooting, ill-treatment, torture, arbitrary arrest, forced dispersal, inhumane acts, kidnapping, murder, shooting tear gas, water canon, wrongful arrest, intimidation, clashes, sexual crimes , crime, to extrajudicial killing.

Throughout 2019, YLBHI recorded 67 cases of people dying with strong suspicion of being victims of extrajudicial killings at the hands of police officers. During the period July 2022-2023, YLBHI recorded at least 130 cases involving the Police as perpetrators of wrongful arrest, intimidation of discussions, criminalization, arbitrary detention, undue delay, and even extrajudicial killing. 

Data on human rights violations committed by POLRI members is also shown by documentation carried out by the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBHM) at three State Detention Centers located in Jakarta. During the period January-May 2024, at least 35 detainees (32 men and 3 women) admitted to being tortured during the investigation process; 21 detainees experienced extortion, 7 detainees admitted to experiencing sexual violence, 35 detainees admitted to experiencing torture and did not receive adequate legal rights. 

Citing the latest records from the Republic of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission for 2023, the police were ranked at the top as the institution with the most complaints related to cases of human rights violations with a total of 771 cases out of a total of 2753 complaints. Similar conditions can also be observed in the Annual Report of the Indonesian Ombudsman. In the last 4 years, 2020-2023, reports related to the Police consistently occupy the "Top Rank" as the most frequently reported institution.

Referring to the records of the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in 2022, the police still occupy the position as the dominant actor in committing violence against JOURNALISTS, with a total of 15 attacks. Even in 2020, when covering demonstrations against the OMNIBUS LAW (Job Creation Law), AJI Indonesia recorded that at least 28 journalists experienced violence by the police. 

ICW (Indonesia Corruption Watch) findings show that the procurement of ammunition and tear gas during the Jokowi administration has the potential to lead to the practice of fictitious tenders by winning puppet companies and "marking up" prices

The DPR suddenly initiated the POLRI Bill. What should have been initiated to resolve the fundamental problems occurring within the National Police, instead has no place in this bill. The POLRI Bill actually makes an institution "greedy for authority" and positions it as a "Superbody".

After examining the POLRI Bill, we, the Civil Society Coalition, stated our position: 

(1). Strongly reject the revision of the POLRI Bill based on the DPR-RI initiative. 

(2). Demand the DPR-RI and the Government to stop discussions regarding the revision of the POLRI Bill during this legislative period; 

(3). Demand that the DPR-RI and the Government not haphazardly draft laws for the political interests of certain groups. 

(4). Urge the DPR-RI to prioritize other more urgent legislative homework, such as: Revision of the Criminal Procedure Code, Asset Confiscation Bill, Indigenous Peoples Bill, etc. 

(5). Urge the Government to carry out a serious evaluation of the Police institution by involving Civil Society and State Human Rights Institutions. 

(6). Urge the Government and Parliament to carry out strict supervision of the performance of the Police and provide strict sanctions to individual perpetrators and also to prevent similar violations from occurring. 

Jakarta, 02 June 2024 

Civil Society Coalition, ( AJAR, AJI, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, ELSAM, HRWG, ICW, IMPARSIAL, KONTRAS, CRIMINOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF INDONESIA, KURAWAL FOUNDATION, LBH PERS, LBH JAKARTA, LBH MASYARAKAT, PBHI, SAFENET, TII, YLBHI )